


Pogues for life

by RecliningHorizontally



Category: Outer Banks (TV)
Genre: Corporal Punishment, Gen, hurt/little comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-13
Updated: 2020-06-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:07:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24695014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RecliningHorizontally/pseuds/RecliningHorizontally
Summary: "Mr. Maybank," Principal Williams hissed angrily and squeezed JJ's arm, "Mr. Routledge. What in God's name are you two doing here?" JJ tried pulling free and threw the big man a quick look. "Extracurricular activities," he shot sarcastically.As always, trouble seems to follow JJ and John B around.Warning: canon-typical violence/abuse/corporal punishment Have fun reading :)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 37





	Pogues for life

**Author's Note:**

> My first fanfic in quite some time, two and a half years actually, and for a completely new fandom. I binged Outer Banks, and JJ instantly became my favorite. I love his rebellious nature and how he is willing to do anything for his friends. His abusive, asshole father makes me furious, but he also inspired this one shot (and will probably inspire more). That means quite a lot of canon-typical violence/abuse/corporal punishment alongside some John B./JJ friendship. If explicit violence (punishment style) is not your thing proceed with caution or turn back completely. Have fun reading 😊

A few times, John B. had wondered why he was best friends with JJ. Sure, they had a lot of fun, pretty much did whatever they wanted and quite often managed to get away with their mischief. But JJ had a knack for getting both of them in hot water. Sometimes really, really hot water. Well, of course John B. wasn't exactly a poster child for innocence himself, but when it came to JJ he seemed to actively look for trouble on top of trouble always finding him.  
It was trouble that had brought them together in the first place way back in the third grade. JJ's sticky fingers had had old Mrs. Richards screaming her lungs out and John B. had come to his rescue. The pair had landed themselves in the principal's office with some serious explaining to do, but the web of lies they effortlessly spun together managed to get them out scot-free. Since that day, they had been pretty much inseparable, always having each other's backs and an ever-growing bond of trust tying them together. So obviously John B. didn't actually wonder why he and JJ were best friends; they were Pogues for life. He did wonder, though, why he always went along with JJ's half baked plans…

JJ could have sworn that he would never willingly return to school after hours, but apparently there was a first time for everything. The hallways were deserted and quiet except for the noises from the janitor who was cussing loudly from inside one of the boys' bathrooms. John B. raised his brows and chuckled as a string of f-bombs reached their ears.  
"Guess the shitter's clogged again," JJ grinned as he and John B. snuck further down the hall.  
It was no surprise that the door to the chemistry lab was locked. Obviously, the school couldn't risk students getting hurt in there after hours. John B. kept a lookout while JJ pulled out the lockpick from one of his many pockets. It didn't take him long to crack it, and the door creaked slightly when JJ turned the doorknob.

The lab was stuffy and the last teacher who had finished up in there hadn't cleaned up after himself, leaving a handful of test tubes and Erlenmeyer flasks out on the desk. Probably Bug-Eye, John B. mused to himself, that guy was a bit of a loose cannon.  
"Hurry up, JJ," John B. whispered.  
He could feel the adrenaline coursing inside because of the thrill of doing something they shouldn't, and although he loved excitement, he would rather be sitting safely at home with their loot right now.  
JJ tsk'ed at John B.'s plea and once again pulled out the lockpick to get into the cupboard with all the chemicals.

The constant, low humming of the ventilation system increased slightly in volume as JJ opened the cupboard. He whistled quietly as the open door revealed all of the different containers with acids, alkalis and all sorts of stuff that students were not allowed to touch without a teacher present.  
"Okay, which ones did we need?" JJ asked in a low voice and scratched his head.  
"Uhm, it was copper sulfate and some alcohol" John B. answered and squinted his eyes a little as JJ started rummaging through the different flasks in the cupboard, making the glass bottles clink against each other rather loudly.  
Suddenly, footsteps and voices out in the hallway had John B. suck in a breath and he grabbed JJ's arm to stop him moving around for a second. Luckily the voices quickly died out as the people went into a room further down the hallway.  
"Who the hell was that? I didn't think anyone was here…"  
"I guess the teachers are having a meeting or some shit," JJ suggested with a shrug, "relax, they won't ever know we were here, okay."  
John B. nodded a few times, trying to convince himself that JJ was right, but a sinking feeling was starting to spread in his gut.  
"Maybe we should just get outta here, JJ".  
The blond turned to look at him.  
"Come on, you saw the video of the green fire. It was pretty damn cool, right?"  
John B. nodded. Yes, it had definitely looked cool, and the idea of making a green bonfire to celebrate the end of Middle School next week had sounded awesome. But now that it involved trespassing and theft it didn't seem so great.

"Copper sulfate, check," JJ suddenly exclaimed and put the container in his backpack with a grin.  
"The alcohol isn't in here though, but we can just grab some from my dad, he'll never notice."  
Just as he was closing the cupboard, two rather big glass boxes caught JJ's eyes. He pulled them out and looked at John B.  
"Potassium and sodium," he said slowly, reading the labels, "wasn't it one of these metals that Bug-Eye put in water to make it burn and fizz around?"  
John B. was honestly quite surprised that JJ remembered that. He wasn't exactly an A+-student and usually used the different classes to sleep behind his books.  
"Yeah, I guess. Why?"  
"It's the one cool science class we've had and now we get a chance to do it ourselves..."  
"JJ, I don't think-" John B. started before JJ cut him off.  
"How awesome would it be down at the beach. Come on, man."  
John B. sighed and looked at his best friend with one eyebrow raised.  
"The water needs to be cold for it to work properly, so…"  
JJ looked slightly disappointed, but then smiled at John B.  
"Okay, let's just test them now and we'll bring the one that reacts the strongest for another time."  
"Now? Why?"  
But JJ just grabbed a glass bowl from the sink and filled it with water before placing it on the desk. He opened the potassium box and stabbed the big lump of soft metal with a knife and placed it on the table. John B. felt his heart hammer in his chest and he cast a glance through the metal blinds to make sure that no adults were out in the hallway. When he turned back around, JJ was already dropping a large chunk of potassium down the bowl.  
"No, that's way too much, JJ!" John B. whisper-yelled and quickly pulled back.

The next second, chaos erupted as a clusterfuck of things happened all at once. A loud whoosh filled the room when the potassium touched the cold water and bright flames lit up right after, making both boys squint. Then the bowl exploded in a rain of glass, water went everywhere and a gray cloud of smoke rose to the ceiling. The exothermic reaction knocked all of the flasks and test tubes to the floor, shattering them, and JJ cussed as a small handful of glass shards from the exploding bowl lodged themselves into his forearm. Then the sprinklers started, spraying them with even more water and to top it all off the fire alarm went off.  
"Shit!" JJ exclaimed and ran a hand through his wet hair before grabbing the backpack and starting for the door.  
John B. had a panicked look on his face and had frozen in place and he didn't start moving until JJ slapped him lightly in the back of the head as he went past him.  
"Come on, we gotta go."  
The two teens only made it to the hallway before JJ collided harshly with Principal Williams, who instinctively grabbed him by his arm. Behind the principal, a handful of teachers were following to see what was going on.  
"Mr. Maybank," Principal Williams hissed angrily and squeezed JJ's arm, "Mr. Routledge. What in God's name are you two doing here?"  
JJ tried pulling free and threw the big man a quick look.  
"Extracurricular activities," he shot sarcastically.  
His comment earned him another hard squeeze to the arm that had him clenching his teeth.

After the sprinklers and the fire alarm had been turned off, Williams and a few of the teachers escorted the boys back into the chemistry lab to check out the damages. It looked even worse with the lights turned on. Shards of glass everywhere, water drenching everything and the sodium and remaining potassium right in the middle of the teacher's desk. Pretty incriminating evidence.  
"We were just trying to recreate a science experiment that Mr. Smith showed us a while back," John B. tried lamely.  
The hard look he received from his principal was enough to make him look down shamefully at his shoes, and he could feel his cheeks heat up.  
"What's in your bag, JJ?" Ms. Anderson suddenly asked sharply, when she realized that the boy tried to slip off the backpack without no one noticing.  
"Nothing," he answered automatically and bit his lip when the strict science teacher just grabbed the bag to look inside.  
She pulled out a pack of cigarettes, a small blunt and then the container with the copper sulfate, and JJ cleared his throat.  
"Not only did you bring cigarettes and drugs into this school, you also tried stealing a chemical substance from our supplies. Do you have anything to say for yourself?" Mr. Williams roared, and JJ shook his head.  
"This won't come cheap, boys," the principal drawled as he held out two brooms.  
"You two troublemakers will clean this mess up and then report to my office, understand?"  
JJ had a bored look on his face as usual when he got caught doing something he wasn't supposed to, but John B. looked sufficiently crestfallen.  
"Understand?" the principal asked again, this time barking the word loudly.  
"Yessir," John B. answered quickly.  
After a few seconds JJ followed suit with a quick, somewhat sarcastic, "yes, sir" of his own, and the principal left them alone.

Their clothes and shoes were still wet when they finally made their way down to Williams' office and both boys felt their hearts racing. Williams sent them a strict glance when they entered and nodded at the two chairs in front of his desk.  
"Take a seat, boys," he ordered.  
Williams didn't waste any breath, giving the boys an earful of a lifetime. John B. couldn't even remember half of it afterwards, but that getting the floors fixed after the water damage would cost a few grand was one of the main things that stuck with him. Oh, and that their parents were on their way.  
Neither boy had expected any less, but none of them were particularly looking forward to being picked up. While John B. was certain that his dad would scold him and then ground him until the age of 30, JJ was certain that his dad would kick his ass into next week.  
"Mr. Maybank," Williams said slowly and pointed menacingly at JJ, "this is your third strike in just a few weeks. You know what that means by now, don't you?"  
JJ sighed and looked down.  
"Look, Mr. Williams, my dad is already gonna punish me for this, so is there any chance we can just skip it this time?"  
It almost looked like the big man smiled slyly at JJ's words, but a grave expression instantly took over his face again.  
"I'm afraid not. Rules are rules, and what would we be if we didn't live up to them here," Williams said.  
"Human?" JJ muttered under his breath.  
"What was that?" the principal barked and JJ shook his head.  
"Nothing, sir. Can we just get it over with then?"  
Williams nodded and asked John B. to leave the room. With one last, long look at his best friend, the boy got up and shut the door firmly behind him. He leaned against the wall next to the door and flinched when the three, loud whacks reached his ears.

JJ didn't make a sound and looked relatively unfazed when he exited the office, but soon after, Luke and Big John both came striding down the hallway, anger practically radiating off of them, and JJ's face fell.  
"You just wait till we get home, boy!" Luke sneered and poked his son hard in the chest before he went into the office alongside John.  
"You okay?" John B. asked quietly, as both boys sat down on the bench to wait for their fathers to come out again; JJ a little more gingerly than his best friend.  
The boy shrugged.  
"I guess," he said and bounced his leg up and down, "for now at least".

A few minutes later, the door to Williams' office opened and both boys felt their hearts drop to their stomachs.  
"What the hell were you two dumbasses thinking?" Big John asked exasperatedly and motioned for John B. to get up.  
The boy threw JJ a quick look before following his father down the hall.  
"Sorry, dad," John B. muttered, "I know it was stupid, but…"  
"Yeah, you're damn right it was stupid. Now we gotta pay for the water damage on top of everything else, John. You have to work off the money, you understand that, right?"  
The teen nodded and looked up at his dad.  
"So, I'll work it off and that's it?" he asked hopefully.  
Big John huffed and shook his head, clearly annoyed.  
"Oh no, Mr., you are grounded for a month."  
"A month!" John B. shot dramatically.  
"Yes, a month. But we can make it two, if you're not satisfied, boy."  
"No, sir, a month is fair."

Back in the hallway Luke had apparently been waiting for the Routledges to get further away before he started berating his own son.  
"This has got to be the dumbest shit you've done so far, boy," Luke hissed and pulled JJ physically from the bench.  
"Sorry, dad," JJ tried quietly, feeling his nerves jitter inside.  
"Yea, you're gonna be sorry, I can promise you that much!"  
When they reached an empty hallway, Luke shoved JJ violently into a locker, his back and rear slamming into the hard metal, and the boy groaned in pain.  
"Where do you think I'll find the money to pay off your principal, JJ? Huh! Do I look like a kook, swimming in cash?"  
JJ shook his head no. His dad definitely did not look like a kook. His clothes were dirty and you could smell his breath from a mile away.  
"But it's always the same with you, ain't it," Luke continued, "just doing as you fucking please without thinking at all."  
"Jesus, dad," JJ tried, "I'm just-"  
"Don't you "Jesus, dad"-me, you little shit. Come here!"  
Luke's hand shot out to grab his son by the scruff of his neck, but JJ couldn't help but cower back, instead making Luke's long fingers grab a hold of his ear. The older man didn't change his grip though, but just dragged JJ alongside him, giving his ear such a hard tug that the boy was surprised he didn't just rip it clean off.  
"Ow," he exclaimed loudly and instinctively pulled up his shoulders and squinted his eyes in pain.  
His dad didn't let go until they reached the car, and JJ warily rubbed the red ear on the way home, trying his best to shut out the verbal abuse his father was letting rain down on him for the entire ride there.

"Get out," the older man bellowed when they finally reached the house.  
JJ really didn't want to. For a second, he contemplated locking the doors, but his dad had ripped the key out of the ignition, so he couldn't actually go anywhere and when he finally had to come out, the beating would be so much worse.

Luke slammed his palm against the side of the car hard, and JJ flinched.  
"NOW, BOY!"  
JJ scurried out and distanced himself as much as he could from his dad who was fuming.  
"1000 bucks," he muttered, working himself well into a rage as they entered the house, "how the hell are we gonna get 1000 dollars, JJ?"  
"I-I don't know," the boy stuttered and sucked in a breath as his father pushed him backwards until he hit the wall.  
"When will you learn that actions have fucking consequences, you idiot?" Luke roared.  
JJ felt like pushing his father back and asking him when he would learn, himself. But, of course, he didn't. One day, though. One day.  
The next second, JJ felt his cheek burn as his dad slapped him so hard that he almost lost his balance. A red handprint immediately blossomed on the left side of his face, and JJ swallowed hard. The anger was pulsing off his father and as a second slap made him see dancing stars, JJ desperately tried pushing his emotions and fears away deep down inside, as always when his dad lost his temper and used him as a punching bag.  
This time was different though, as this was not him just being in the wrong place at the wrong time or Peterkin bringing him home by the scruff of the neck for stealing a few beers. This was at least a somewhat deserved punishment, and JJ remembered what Luke had promised him the last time the sheriff had dragged him home, and he felt goosebumps start to rise all over. He could only hope that his dad was so drunk he didn't remember.  
"You little shit," Luke yelled and stuck a finger in JJ's face, "what do I have to do to make you learn?"  
"I'm sorry," JJ gulped and held a hand in front of his chest, protectively, "I'm sorry, dad, okay."  
His apologies didn't seem to help calm the older man down, and with no warning Luke grabbed JJ by his shoulder and pushed him to the floor. JJ quickly rolled to his knees to get up, but froze when he heard the sound of a belt sliding through its loops. He had not forgotten!

"Dad," JJ tried helplessly.  
Then Luke's hand closed around a fistful of his hair, and JJ hissed as his father pulled him to his feet before throwing him, stomach first, over the back of the chair. A second later, a line of fire erupted across his lower back and he sucked in a shallow breath. Fuck that hurt! The next one caught him lower, right where legs met ass, and his hands desperately clenched the sides of the chair.  
"Ow," he yelped as the belt came down again and again, branding him all over his back, rear and thighs with angry, crimson welts each time.  
At one point, JJ tried getting up, but that just resulted in Luke grabbing him by the still sore ear again.  
"You stay down and take it, boy. If you fight me on this, I'll lay another one on you tomorrow!"  
These words made the first tears spill down the teen's cheeks and he soon found himself flat out crying.  
"Arh," he whimpered and automatically threw a hand back as an attempt to protect his aching body.  
Luke took ahold of his arm, locking it unpleasantly in place and focused his remaining energy on laying down a dozen or so more smacks on JJ's rear and the back of his legs.  
"Arhow, dad, OW, STOP!" the boy cried, not sure he could take another blow.  
And to his great surprise, the belt landed on the floor next to him, and he heard his father leave the room, the screen door slamming shut after him.  
He took a minute to collect himself and then straightened up. JJ spat on the floor and let a string of "fucks" and "ows" out as the movement send flashes of deep pain through him.

JJ made it to the bathroom where he splashed some cold water on his face. Then he slowly lifted his gaze and met his own eyes in the mirror. He looked like a mess. His ear and cheek were still bright red, a small bruise starting to form where his dad had slapped him, and his eyes were puffy from crying. JJ bit his lip, contemplating whether to do it or not, but in the end his curiosity won, and he slowly pulled off his tee and unzipped his shorts, letting them drop to the floor with his boxers. What he saw in the mirror made him feel sick to his stomach. Long, blue and red whip marks practically covered him from the middle of his back and down to his knees. The few smacks that Luke had dealt him with the buckle end of his belt had made his skin break, and JJ was certain he would look like a red and purple zebra, come morning.  
"Fuck," he ground out through gritted teeth as he let a finger trace an especially raised welt across his rear.

When JJ exited the bathroom, he heard his dad rummaging around on the porch, kicking old beer cans and yelling at nothing in particular. There was no way he would stay in the house that night and JJ quietly pushed the window in his room up, slipping out into the cool night. He set the course for The Chateau and after a stiff, painful walk he finally reached John B.'s house.  
JJ threw a handful of pebbles on his best friend's window and crawled in without a word, when the other boy popped his head out to see what was going on.  
"Shit, JJ," John B. said in a shocked voice, when the blond collapsed with a sigh on the floor.  
His clean wifebeater didn't do a good job at hiding the marks on his sides, and his cheeks flushed. It wasn't like John B. didn't know that JJ's dad got violent sometimes and slapped his son around. But JJ had never told anyone to what extent his dad would take the beatings. Until now. Without even wanting to, JJ started talking about what had happened. The words just spilled out, sending feelings of both relief and fear through him. Then the tears came, and John B. couldn't do anything but hug his best friend, letting him know that he was there for him.  
"Take the bed, JJ, I'll sleep on the floor."  
"Thanks," JJ said in a coarse voice and crawled slowly onto the big bed.  
He carefully laid down on his belly and finally felt like he could relax peacefully.  
"I think we'll just skip the green flames," John B. muttered and JJ snickered.  
"Yeah," he agreed, before morbidly adding, "if you wanna see at a colorful fire just take a look at my poor ass!"  
"Shut up, man, that's not funny. Seriously though, stay here as long as you need to, alright."  
JJ nodded into the pillow and sent John B. a small, tired smile.  
"Pogues for life," he said half asleep.  
John B. placed a hand on his shoulder and gave it a little squeeze.  
"Yeah, JJ, Pogues for life."

I hope you enjoyed. Reviews are always welcome 😊


End file.
